2018 Canyon Springs Football Capsule

CANYON SPRINGS

League: Class 4A Northeast

Head coach: Gus McNair, third season (14-7)

2017 record: 6-5 (4-0 Northeast, first)

Returning lettermen: 17

Returning starters: Six offense, five defense

Base offensive set: Multiple

Base defensive set: 4-2-5

Top offensive players: RB Jayvion Pugh (Sr.); OL Donovan Wolfe (Sr.); OL A.J. Davis (Sr.)

Top defensive players: LB Keyvon Lakes (Sr.); DB Anasam Fields (Sr.); DL Uta Mann (Sr.)

Top newcomers: QB/WR/DB Xavier Delong (Sr.); LB Nick Daniel (Sr.); RB/WR/LB Martin Blake (So.); WR/DB Javieon Davison (So.)

Key losses: ATH DiaMante Burton; DB Jonathan Bailey; DL Germaine Carmena; LB Jah’quire Powell-Hunt; WR Zazonte Thomas

Outlook: The Pioneers have won three of the last four Northeast League titles, and expect to contend again this season.

But things don’t figure to be as easy as they were a year ago, when they outscored league opponents 202-20.

Desert Pines, the 2017 Class 3A state champion, will join the league along with Legacy, which was third in the Northeast last season. Last year’s Class 3A state runner-up, Mojave, also joins the league.

The Pioneers also have to replace do-everything athlete DiaMante Burton, who passed for eight touchdowns, rushed for nine touchdowns and caught five TD passes. He was the Northeast League’s Offensive MVP.

Pugh, who rushed for 597 yards and eight TDs on just 69 carries last season, looks poised to take over as the team’s No. 1 option.

He’ll run behind a pair of 300-pounders in Wolfe and Davis.

On defense, the Pioneers lost Northeast League Defensive MVP Bailey. But Lakes, a first-team All-Northeast League pick at inside linebacker, should be ready to offer leadership.

Fields, a second-team All-Northeast selection at outside linebacker, also returns on defense.

“We expect to compete and play at a high level,” McNair said.